We give many reasons for not making God a priority in our lives. But most of them seem like things we can’t control. We are almost fatalistic about our self-absorption. But in reality, we are able to choose whether to focus on Christ or on ourselves. And our self-focus leads to worry and stress as we try to manage our lives and live them out under our control.

This really hit home to me when I was reading chapter 2 of Crazy Love. On pg. 42, Francis says “Both worry and stress reek of arrogance.” I had never thought of it that way. I had always seen worry and stress as signs of weakness and lack of trust, but to think that I am arrogantly holding on to my agenda and pushing God out of the way. Wow. What an indictment on my sin nature and my unwillingness to trust every day to Christ.

There is a great devo link on pg. 45 of the book that allowed me to take some time away from the narrative and jump into Scripture. Francis takes you through Paul and Solomon’s writings and it began to give me a picture of two people who were making God the priority of their lives and it was manifesting itself in their daily actions.

This chapter was a wakeup call for me. It really helped me to reframe my priorities away from my life to God working through me. Francis ends the chapter with a short audio clip about what our focus should be in Christ. The idea that we are made for God and our lives should be oriented that way. Well, this short time has given my day a new focus. I pray this blog will give your day a new orientation as well!